On the Right, the two contenders are engaged in a never-ending battle beating each other with feathers. And not caring about anything else.
On the Left, that leaves Robert Abela and he is actually the one with power to do something but it does not seem this features among his priorities.
So the gates to this island nation are left unguarded and people wander in.
There are police who should be on guard duty but they are few and mostly left on their own.
So the number of people on this blessed island grows and grows and it is impossible to count them.
Nor is the island helped by European Union it was so proud of joining. The ‘one size fits all’ means the same rules apply in Germany as in Malta.
It means Malta does try to fulfill its obligations but then it is let down by the rules.
And, particularly in the case of people from Syria it seems to mean that in many cases those who are sent out of Malta by a court sentence or a police decision just turn round, buy a plane ticket and head back to Malta and their family or associates.
And since they would be coming from a Schengen country they are allowed in with the minimum of fuss.
I invite the authorities to check and see why the planes from eg Athens are always packed and with people from Syria, not from Greece.
Malta has become a joke. Our police do what they can but they are let down by the way the Schengen rules are applied.
Sometimes the police hold fast but then they have to pay fines. I invite our MPs to ask specific questions in Parliament in this regard.
As happens everywhere when entry rules become a joke illegality flourishes. Our media should correlate the statistics for eg accidents, crimes of violence etc with returned illegal migrants.
In countries, on the contrary, with strict enforcement of entry rules, such as Hungary, the number of such crimes has been kept down.
The free movement of people is one of the benefits of EU membership but not when it covers up illegality.
In case the two contenders for the PN leadership take the time to notice this, let them prove me wrong by proposing a policy to stop the illegality.
History Note
Satellite, sentinel, stepping stone
This paper by Charles Dalli examines the historical significance of Malta during the medieval period, particularly its relationship with Sicily and the wider Mediterranean context.
While evidence from written sources regarding Malta’s governance and social structure during Byzantine and early Islamic rule is sparse, archaeological findings provide insights into Malta’s role as a strategic military and commercial hub.
It highlights Malta’s transition from a Byzantine base to an outlying sentinel of Sicily amidst Muslim expansion, ultimately culminating in the Norman conquest in 1091.